Trains.com

Chatterbox Spring 2017

34378 views
431 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 5:50 PM

That still happens here. One of those went boom in Pueblo several years back at I-25 and US-50. Curious to see who owned the truck here, a construction company or a jobber/distributor?

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 5:31 PM

MC,

Remember the good old days when those tankers pulled doubles? Two booms for the price of one. IIRC, that would have been 12,000 gallons of gas.

Norm


  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 5:26 PM

tree68

Looked up the location.  It's not between my sister's place of employment downtown and her home (Aurora), so she won't be too peeved.  

 

With everybody trying to find new N-S routes to get home, hope she's going E-W...Going diagonal accross Denver? -fuggedabowdit, ain't gonna happen today.

The southbound lanes of I-25 are open now (for the last 20 minutes), but 10 MPH will be all you go because of the sand, absorbent and cooked asphalt. They are still applying foam to the truck. The cab burned, melted or otherwise dissappeared. Might get hauled off by 6PM.

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,021 posts
Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 5:11 PM

Looked up the location.  It's not between my sister's place of employment downtown and her home (Aurora), so she won't be too peeved.  

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 3:47 PM

We've already got exploding houses due to knuckleheads in the construction industry laying sewer and cutting supposebly abandoned oil & gas gathering lines that proved not to be. The reaction to that has been nutso.

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: S.E. South Dakota
  • 13,569 posts
Posted by Murphy Siding on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 3:41 PM

mudchicken

I suspect many of you will see where der' Chicken's office nest is tonight on the evening snewz.. A little excitement (with four BIG booms rattling the windows) has shut down Denver today. If you see any video from the air, the striped building closest to the exploding heavy equipment fuel & service truck is us and we are at the top with the lower deck (11th floor, the whole floor), behind the leftmost of the three doors. The driver survived - pulled out by a passing construction supervisor. People stupidly driving through flaming gasoline, police threatening people to leave the light-rail platform accross the freeway, drones and choppers droning overhead.

We will be here for a while. FD elected to let it burn out after foam(white) and chemical (purple), including an airport crash truck's full load, couldn't put the fire out.  I-25 is severed for several more hours. 

Will the politician's knee-jerk reaction to the odd incident create a rush to ban fuel trucks?

 

Yikes! Suddenly those $1 million liability insurance policies make sense. It must take a pretty cool headed person to approach this mess and help the driver.

There's no need to ban fuel trucks. Just ban fuel truck explosions. Problem solved.

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,319 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 3:36 PM

afternoon

Saw the Ns local back uptown today after I left work.Big boss asked if I wanted to take a field trip to Minnesota.It's for equipment at work.Going to talk with the other boss about it.Matt is glad to be out of school.Going to get cleaned up.

stay safe

Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 2:56 PM

I suspect many of you will see where der' Chicken's office nest is tonight on the evening snewz.. A little excitement (with four BIG booms rattling the windows) has shut down Denver today. If you see any video from the air, the striped building closest to the exploding heavy equipment fuel & service truck is us and we are at the top with the lower deck (11th floor, the whole floor), behind the leftmost of the three doors. The driver survived - pulled out by a passing construction supervisor. People stupidly driving through flaming gasoline, police threatening people to leave the light-rail platform accross the freeway, drones and choppers droning overhead.

We will be here for a while. FD elected to let it burn out after foam(white) and chemical (purple), including an airport crash truck's full load, couldn't put the fire out.  I-25 is severed for several more hours. 

Will the politician's knee-jerk reaction to the odd incident create a rush to ban fuel trucks?

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/05/31/vehicle-fire-interstate-25/ 

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: S.E. South Dakota
  • 13,569 posts
Posted by Murphy Siding on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 8:59 AM

mudchicken

There's a darned good reason why all the feathers are numbered. (Tip of the hardhat to Foghorn Leghorn, fellow chicken)

 

I say, I say son. That there made me guffaw.

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 8:21 AM

There's a darned good reason why all the feathers are numbered. (Tip of the hardhat to Foghorn Leghorn, fellow chicken)

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: US
  • 13,488 posts
Posted by Mookie on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 7:03 AM

mudchicken
Methinks Mooks is out for der Chicken's hyde, yes?

(that's my winter cloche...)  

As usual, Sir C, you are spot on!  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

  • Member since
    March 2016
  • From: Burbank IL (near Clearing)
  • 13,540 posts
Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 6:49 AM

[quote user="BOB WITHORN"]

CSSHEGEWISCH

Bob, you appear to be a bit short with the length.  Based on your report, I'm using 250 93-foot TTX flatcars (50 autoracks plus 200 flats for the turbine blades) as a yardstick and come up with about 23000 feet in length unless the flats for the turbine blades are shorter.  Maybe somebody else can help out.

 

It appeared that there were 2 blades per 3 flats.  The heavy end of each on it's own car with a special roller rack on the third. Makes for a 200 + car train so I guess that makes it 18,000 + feet, so I was 'off by a mile'.  I understand the single loco on the old GT but I bet it got a workout on the long hill west of Durand to Perry, Mi.

 
Your aim may have been just a little bit off, easy mistake to make.  I would assume that the bombardiers who flew with our fathers were better than that.
The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 10:00 PM

AgentKid

Good to hear from you dinningcar.

A few weeks ago I had a question for you and mudchicken about your days back on the Santa Fe, but I apologize because now I forgot the question.

It is always good to hear from all of the folks in the Chatterbox.

Bruce

 

 

We'll be around here if the question re-appears. With our luck, you will ask about some corner of Chico's old haunts that neither of us never managed to be at in our careers.

  Methinks Mooks is out for der Chicken's hyde, yes?

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,021 posts
Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 8:35 PM

mudchicken
French Provincial gone over-the-top Tudor Bordello

Sounds like the place I stayed in Davenport...

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 8:06 PM

DC - Jumers decided to get into the Casino business about ten years ago. The hotels in Galesburg (BW-Prairie Inn), Peoria, Davenport and Bloomington are all different names now because of the change in the business plan. I think Peoria (The Castle) is now a Radisson. (The Jumers in Bloomington (Chateau) was a little strange and a bit fru-fru* the only time I stayed there. I remember getting cut up when I brushed against the stucco walls in a hallway...)... I get the impression that Jumers is now only the casino at Rock Island.

 

(*)French Provincial gone over-the-top Tudor Bordello

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,319 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 4:04 PM

evening

got the swamp mowed after work.Local was uptown when I left work.Matt has one more day of school.You are sure to hear a few of Mr. Cash's songs in Deshler if you stay long enough.

stay safe

Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,021 posts
Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 3:54 PM

diningcar

MC, Is Jumers still the place to stay in Peoria? I liked it back in the 'day??' when the TP&W was on my agenda. 

Never stayed in Peoria, so didn't know there was a Jumer's there.  I know there was one in Davenport - pretty cool place.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    October 2014
  • From: Flint or Grand Rapids, Mi or Elkhart, It Depends on the day
  • 573 posts
Posted by BOB WITHORN on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 3:22 PM

[quote user="CSSHEGEWISCH"]

Bob, you appear to be a bit short with the length.  Based on your report, I'm using 250 93-foot TTX flatcars (50 autoracks plus 200 flats for the turbine blades) as a yardstick and come up with about 23000 feet in length unless the flats for the turbine blades are shorter.  Maybe somebody else can help out.

 

It appeared that there were 2 blades per 3 flats.  The heavy end of each on it's own car with a special roller rack on the third. Makes for a 200 + car train so I guess that makes it 18,000 + feet, so I was 'off by a mile'.  I understand the single loco on the old GT but I bet it got a workout on the long hill west of Durand to Perry, Mi.

  • Member since
    August 2008
  • From: Calgary AB. Canada
  • 2,298 posts
Posted by AgentKid on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 1:46 PM

Good to hear from you dinningcar.

A few weeks ago I had a question for you and mudchicken about your days back on the Santa Fe, but I apologize because now I forgot the question.

It is always good to hear from all of the folks in the Chatterbox.

Bruce

 

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere"  CP Rail Public Timetable

"O. S. Irricana"

. . . __ . ______

  • Member since
    December 2006
  • 1,754 posts
Posted by diningcar on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 1:18 PM

MC, Is Jumers still the place to stay in Peoria? I liked it back in the 'day??' when the TP&W was on my agenda. 

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: US
  • 13,488 posts
Posted by Mookie on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 1:17 PM

Boy am I in over my head.  Got a Tree that knows funny cars; a Siding that wants help building and will sing at the same time (yes, I do have duct tape and have to find the slip-joint pliers) and a Chicken that is wondering if it will play in Peoria....

And we did have a train go thru here toward St Joe Mo - with blades - I counted 84 blades - one on 2 flat cars.  That is 168 cars and with other decoratives along, it was close to a 200 count train.  And all my facts are backed up by the Driver, so see there is a male involved in my postings!

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 12:45 PM

It might be the fact that I'm dealing with William Gibbons ghost and the ashes of the Rock Island ... Got a real bizzare case of who owns dat?, in the middle of downtown Peoria. Whirlpool/Maytag Corp may find itself unwillingly dragged back into the railroad biz they thought they escaped from. Everybody uses the track and R/W, but nobody claims ownership near Water and Walnut.ConfusedConfusedConfused

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: S.E. South Dakota
  • 13,569 posts
Posted by Murphy Siding on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 11:34 AM

Mookie
 
mudchicken

I'm getting concerned .... There's a song about about a 61-62-63-64 automobile in here somewhere...Hmm

 

 

 

Ok - you have me Tongue Tied again.  That was my heyday and I don't remember anything that equates.  Maybe Murphy understands better than I do.

 

 

Should I be proud or concerned if I understood it? Surprise

MusicWhen we went to put in the bolts all the holes were gone.
    So we drilled it
    So that it would fit
    And with a little bit of help from an A-daptor kit....Music


I see blades for wind turbines  going by. I don't think they'd miss a couple of those. I'm sure we make it work. Do you have duct tape and a pair of slip-joint pliers?

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

  • Member since
    March 2016
  • From: Burbank IL (near Clearing)
  • 13,540 posts
Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 10:08 AM

Bob, you appear to be a bit short with the length.  Based on your report, I'm using 250 93-foot TTX flatcars (50 autoracks plus 200 flats for the turbine blades) as a yardstick and come up with about 23000 feet in length unless the flats for the turbine blades are shorter.  Maybe somebody else can help out.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: US
  • 13,488 posts
Posted by Mookie on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 8:23 AM

Boy, Tree - I need to have you available to translate chicken-eze for me!  

Johnny Cash - well, that wasn't one on my top 10 list.  Little Deuce Coupe was closer.  And that is one ugly car.  I found about 3 different cars in it and won't say which ones it is comparable to that existed in that time frame.  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

  • Member since
    October 2014
  • From: Flint or Grand Rapids, Mi or Elkhart, It Depends on the day
  • 573 posts
Posted by BOB WITHORN on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 8:09 AM

Happened to be inbound to Linden, Mi going through Durand, Mi at 1 am this AM and immaging the luck, I got stopped be a west bound CN with just 1 loco. Figured it would be a short quick freight and I'd be on my way. NO, around 50 auto racks on the head end I missed a few. That makes for a nice unit train, but, following them were turbine blades. The blades were the 150ish ft type and they just kept appearing out of the dark. One blade per car but each blade spanned most of two cars with each car having the large round end mounted to special bracket, so in effect one blade per car. 100 blades later the train passed. So, am I correct with a ballpark length in the 13-14,000 ft range?

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,021 posts
Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 7:55 AM

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: US
  • 13,488 posts
Posted by Mookie on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 7:50 AM

mudchicken

I'm getting concerned .... There's a song about about a 61-62-63-64 automobile in here somewhere...Hmm

 

Ok - you have me Tongue Tied again.  That was my heyday and I don't remember anything that equates.  Maybe Murphy understands better than I do.

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 7:44 AM

I'm getting concerned .... There's a song about about a 61-62-63-64 automobile in here somewhere...Hmm  Frankenplane?

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: US
  • 13,488 posts
Posted by Mookie on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 7:42 AM

Murphy Siding
Which parts are you missing? I can check my stash.

The wings!  They never include those.  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy